You Lifted Me Up Again
by Nathaneal Jacobs
Summary: This is actually lengthy oneshot, strangely. Oh, and I changed Nat's status, just slightly. The title is a line from a song by Nick Cave.
1. 1 of 2

Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to the plot, or details, or characters of The Faculty. The movie cast and crew own everything. I do take dibs on Nat, who is seen in my fanfiction Guaranteed to Jack You Up, but near everything else isn't mine and I don't make a profit from this, I'm just doing what I love to do, whether or not I'm really very good at it. I think I MIGHT include Dan, since you all love him so much. He's Crystal's you all know.

Rating: PG-13 Just to be safe. There might be some fowl language and references that might not be suitable for children and those of immature mind.

A/N: This is sort of a lengthy one-shot. Just to give Nat and Casey more of a friendly relationship than in my main fanfiction. Oh, and I doubt they'll be anymore Fight Club rip-offs. (If you wish to know, read Guaranteed to Jack You Up) Oh, and I changed Nat's status, just slightly.

* * *

_What am I still doing here? In this town? In this school? In Ohio? In this fucking world for that matter? There's no reason at all for me to be here. No reason whatsoever. But still, here I am; haven't learned my goddamned lesson, yet. Well that's what they say. That's what they all say. They being the mixture of jocks and upper-classmen that find it either amusing, or a way to pass time, to slam the flagpole between my legs. Why did I even get off the buss this morning? I knew I'd find myself in this predicament. What I didn't know, was that there was something special about today._

**No—not the pole!**_ I begged, maybe just a spark of sympathy would change things. There was that unmistakable pain that prove my new-found theory wrong._ **Please!** _I tried again, but they went for a second time. That second time was all it took to leave me writhing on the ground in pain and agony, watching people pass without a second glance. I cringed when I heard an unfamiliar voice_ _above my head_.

**Get up,** _it said, but it sounded calmer, less cruel,_ **Don't take that shit from them! Do something about it!** _This was obviously a new student. I shook my head, a blatant refusal._ **Fine,** she said—I had decided the voice was a girl's—and she straightened up, **If you won't, I will.**

_I looked up, from my sanctuary on the ground, to see the back of a girl walking after the group of guys that did that to me. What in god's name was she planning to do? She was smaller than them, obviously in bad odds in strength. But she had a confident stride. That's got to count for something._

_Her voice rang out clear as she called them back._ **Hey!** _she practically yelled, _**Don't you think that's wrong to pick on some one obviously weaker than you? Why don't you try fighting with some one who is just as strong as you?…Oh, I get it,**_ there was a strange slyness in her voice,_ **You ain't got the balls for it.** _That caused them all the turn around and stare at her. Hard hit, insulting a guy's manhood like that._ **By the looks on your faces, you disagree? Well, then, fight me. Here and now. I'll see if you got balls or not.**

_What was this girl, brave, crazy, or just plain stupid? I wasn't about to jump to conclusions, being that it was my ass she was defending. I still hadn't seen her face, her back was to me the entire time, but I could tell by her voice that she was smirking—or something close to it. She had some confidence, whether far-fetched or not, it was confidence._

**What the hell are you trying to pull little girl?** _one guy snarled._

**Oh, you think your bigger than me?** _she said as if she wasn't an entire head shorter than each of them,_ **Well, you're pretty damn small to be getting your kicks by bullying some kid.** _She spread her legs shoulder width apart and turned as if ready to fight. One thing was strange about her though; she stuck her hands in her pockets._ **I'll take on all of you without taking my hands out of my pockets.**

_Yep, definitely crazy, but not necessarily incapable. This was well proven by what I saw next. Though I can't be sure whether I saw this or something out of an old martial arts movie. All—I think there were five—five guys, prettily pissed off, charged at her from different angles. This wasn't a tactic used except by the dumbest and cockiest fighters in movies. It didn't work in the movies, it didn't work now. She jumped, then—when they were close enough—jumped off one guy's head and practically stood there on top when they all crashed into each other._

_When they came to their senses—whatever sense they had—and started reeming up for another attack, she landed softly on the ground and sent a powerful kick straight up into the biggest guy's chin. Everything next seemed to happen in slow motion. The big guy, with his chin pointed up, fell backward, her leg still vertical in the space his face used to occupy. Luckily she was wearing jeans and not a skirt, or the guys in the crowd would be having a ball. When the big guy finally landed, he was unconscious, and before time sped up again I realized that she had just done what I never, in my life, had the courage or the strength to do myself. She stood up for me. The other four guys dragged the big guy away with loud curses and insults aimed at the girl, but she didn't seem to hear them. She came up to me, but all I saw at first was her shoes. They were black and white checkered tennis shoes._

**You,**_she said forcefully,_ **Get up, now! I stood up for you, now get up and stand on your own two feet.** _She almost seemed angry, but still quite sober at the same time. I didn't move or make a reply. I didn't want to, just in case she was playing some long trick on me to embarrass me. I was never very quick to trust anyone. _**Come on!** _she was almost yelling again._ **Why do you think they pick on you? Don't you want people to look up to you? Then stand up on your feet and feel tall, be tall. You come to school everyday and deal with that without a word to protect yourself, or a move to block a blow? No one can look up to some one who's on the ground all the time and stays there.**_ I stirred and got on my hands and knees—I was still in quite a bit of pain from being elbowed in the face beforehand. I looked up and saw her face for the first time and for once in my sad, pathetic life of ugliness and hate…I saw beauty._ **What are you waiting for?** she _continued, her face frowning, but her eyes spoke as if she had some sort of hope…in me._ **I'm not going to offer you a hand, or help you. I've done too much already. Look, rise, get up and speak for yourself. Walk for yourself. Be who you want to be without having to live in fear because of fucking bastards like that. I can see very well you don't have the muscle to fight back physically, but you could at least do something.**

_As all of this was entering my brain at one time, I got to wondering why she was doing this. She told me to get up, but I'm obviously not able to do that right now. She sounded so mean, but yet, not one bit cruel. I guess the correct word is strict. Then I got what she was trying to do. She didn't want me to rely on any help to pull myself together. She had faith that I—the piss wad in the locker room, the chicken-shit on the field—actually had strength in me. No one, not even my parents ever had that kind of faith in me, and they've known me my entire life. I see this girl I haven't even met properly, who didn't even know I existed until about ten minutes ago, was giving me one chance to prove myself, to her and to me. I felt a lot of strength—no, that's not the right term—a lot of power rush through me right then. I felt the power to get up and carry on, to go on and do what I want to make my life better. I had this power all along, but it was dwindling with loss of hope. I put my feet on the ground and straightened my legs and back and stood. And, man, what it felt like. But then I got dizzy and fell forward again. Only, this time she caught me._

**That's all I wanted you to do,** _she said, suddenly very gentle and sweet,_ **I wanted you to stand. Even if just for one minute, I wanted you to feel what it's like to be strong and not pathetic and helpless. Did you feel it?**

_She held me up with my head on her shoulder. She smelled sweet, kind of like flowers with a strange, distinct fragrance. I swallowed the lump in my throat and spoke to her._ **Yeah,** _I said,_ **I felt like I was getting up to talk to a friend of mine…like an equal. I haven't felt that since kindergarten. You know, when everyone's attention spans are too short to comprehend weakness and strength. Back when I was considered to be just like everyone else.**

**You are just like everyone else.** _she assured me. I never heard anyone speak so kindly to me in all of my life. And in the circumstances I didn't think I'd ever hear it again in my entire lifetime. But I changed that way of thinking as I got to know her better because from that day on…we became very good friends._

* * *

_I learned her name while she sat by me in Nurse Harper's office. Her name was Nathaneal—which, if I'm not mistaken is a male name--Whelpsand when I asked her why, she just laughed a little and smiled. I guess I must've been blushing a little because my face heated when she laughed at me. That's strange, being that I've been laughed at so many times before and never had a problem with blushing. What makes her so different, I wonder?_

**You** **really** **want** **to** **know?** _she asked, still laughing, but merely a giggle,_ **Well,** **it** **goes** **like** **this:** **My** **mother** **loved** **my** **father** **very** **much,** **but** **he** **lost** **his** **mind** **and** **ran** **away** **when** **heard** **that** **she** **was** **pregnant** **with** **his** **child,** **before** **they** **were** **married.** **That** **was** **me,** **you** **see.** **But,** **of** **course,** **my** **mother--mourning** **over** **the** **abandonment** **of** **her** **husband**--**wanted** **a** **boy,** **so** **she** **could** **name** **him** **after** **his** **father.** **As** **you** **can** **see,** **plans** **didn't** **go** **so** **well** **for** **my** **mother.** **So** **she** **just** **named** **me** **after** **him** **out** **of** **spite.** **She** **really** **hates** **me.**

_That information made my stomach feel sick. How could anyone hate their own child. I mean, sure, my folks have their moments of being complete numbskulls and morons, but they still love me, and they do try to understand what I go through at school. But for a mother to hate her own daughter…that's Hell._ **She** **hates** **you?** _I inquired, trying to understand this better._ **She** **thoroughly** **hates** **you?** **As** **in** **despises** **you?** _I followed her nods, all pointing to affirmative._ **Why** **don't** **you** **call** C**hild** **Services,** **or** **something** **to** **that** **extent?**

_This also earned a laugh._ **It's** **not** **like** **she** **neglects** **me,** **or** **abuses** **me,** _she explained,_ **She** **buys** **food** **and** **clothes** **for** **me.** **She** **could** **very** **well** **just** **kick** **me** **out** **of** **her** **house.** **Hell,** **I'm** **still** **her** **daughter,** **but** **it's** **all** **just** **responsibility** **to** **her.** **She** **told** **me** **that** **herself** **when** **I** **was** **five,** **just** **started** **school.** **I** **was** **afraid** **to** **take** **the** **bus,** **so** **she** **had** **to** **drive** **me.** **She** **was** **none** **too** **happy** **about** **that,** **so** **she** **yelled** **at** **me…telling** **me** **how** **much** **I** **ruined** **her** **life,** **and** **I** **knew** **right** **then** **why** **I** **had** **envied** **the** **children** **on** **my** **street.** **Some** **how** **I** **knew** **that** **they** **all** **had** **loving** **parents,** **and** **I** **not** **only** **had** **one** **parent,** **she** **didn't** **love** **me.** **That** **crushed** **me,** **you** **know,** **so** **over** **the** **years,** **I've** **been** **less** **dependent** **on** **her,** **or** **anyone** **for** **that matter.** **And,** **you** **know,** **I've** **never** **felt** **better.**

_I held the tissue to my nose, just in case the bleeding hadn't really stopped. Then I thought of a question that I wanted the answer to._** Why…why did you stand up for me? I mean, even when everyone else didn't notice me, why did you do it?** _She laughed again. Was I really _that_ funny that day?_

_She stood and offered me a hand._** I think we better get to class. I'll meet you after school by the flagpole. Don't be late or I'll come looking for you.**

* * *

_My last class was my worst class, Physical Education. I really hated that class,for some reason. Maybe it's because of the pointless running around the coach makes us do. Why should some one run, unless they have good reason to? It's all pointless to me so I just ignore half the stuff that's being taught. The only "exciting" part of the class is in the locker room when I have to stay out of the way, or I might get my head cracked open on a locker. It's never an accident. I guess I wasn't paying a lot of attention today. Gabe, a football player, ran into me while I was shutting my locker. I knew this guy was going to blame it on me._

**Hey, you little shit! I'm trying to walk here. Get out of the way.** _Good, he's in a good mood today. Maybe I shouldn't ruin my luck…_

_Too bad I forgot to keep my mouth shut this time._** I'm sorry, I'm trying to breathe here.** _Now, this probably wouldn't have been as bad if I hadn't been so sarcastic about it. But, no, I had to open my mouth and lock my damn brain._

_Too fast for me to react, he grabbed a large amount of the hair on the back of my head and yanked my head back. It hurt like hell so my first reflex is to grab his hand behind me. Not a good reflex. He grabbed the hand I reached with--my other was holding my backpack by one strap--and pulled it behind my back. Shit what I was in for. He then slammed my forehead into the lock on my locker so hard it should've knocked me unconscious. Unfortunately, it didn't, and he didn't let me go just yet._

**Chicken-shit, **_he said,_** When I tell you to get out of the way, you get out of the fuckin' way. You got that, Piss Wad?…Huh? **_He yanked on my hair again because I didn't answer fast enough._

**Yes,** _I said, but he only pulled harder._** Yes, sir,**_ I added, through gritted teeth. I didn't dare use my other hand; he'd just get more pissed and probably call back one of his buddies--or maybe two_.

**Good, I heard that new girl beat up my friends because of you. If I didn't know you better, I'd say you've got a girlfriend. Well, Casey?**

_I hated it when that bastard said my name. He always spat it out like it was just a bad taste in his mouth. I much preferred the curses and insults he used as names for me._** Good thing, you fucking know me better, huh Gabe?**

_I have no idea what was passing through his head in the next few moments, but he finally decided to let me go. Not without socking me in the face afterward, though, which immediately brought back my nosebleed. I found myself on the ground again, leaning against the lockers. I heard the bell ring overhead. I got up and walked out of the locker room, my head pounding. I found my way to the bathroom in the school building. I reached up to my head after I locked the stall door behind me and found a nice little stream of blood running down from my forehead. I got some toilet paper and I held my nose. I wasn't going to bother catching the bus. I could just stay there until everyone left, then be able to go home without any problems. There is of course, that little problem of my mom and dad thinking I joined some gang because I'd get home late and be all bloodied up. I just decided to wait there and take the consequences from my dad. It would probably be less physically painful anyway. Then I heard some one come in. I stifled my little cries of pain from wipingthebloodawayfrom the cut on my forehead and waited._


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**Casey! Are you in here? **_It was Nathaneal. Wait a second, this is the boy's bathroom. She shut the door behind her._** Casey, if you're in here, speak up!** _She was looking for me, and she'd even go so far as to go into the guy's bathroom?_

**I'm….I'm here.** _I unlocked the stall door and went out to see her jump up slightly and hit her back against the door. She was obviously a bit disturbed by my current state of health. Okay, maybe a little more than a bit. All right, a lot more than a bit. She looked a little bit like when a bull sees red for a few seconds. I began to think she was angry with me. She wasn't._

**Who the hell did that to you?** _her eyes narrowed as she said this. She can be pretty damn scary sometimes. I didn't want to get her all up on Gabe's case. That would just equal hell for me._

_I turned to my only alternative. I lied. Straight to her face Ilied._** It was no one…I fell in the locker room. My head slammed into the locker door. I'm fine now. I'm serious it was no one.** _Would she buy it?_

_She definitely wasn't buying it._** Really? I'm sorry you did that. I'm really sorry you lied. Your excuse was flawed. Your nose is still bleeding, smart one.** _She wasn't buying one word. How could I forget my bloody nose?_** You can tell me to back off, if it's really that important to you to protect your enemies. Even though you just make more that way. I'll completely understand if you want me to leave you alone.** _She was doing it on purpose. Yet, there wasn't a bit of anger or regret in what she said. She really would understand, and I didn't want her to leave me alone. I've been alone all my school years, I don't want that again._

**It was…Gabe…you know, the guy on the football team.** _I knew that I was going to get hurt tomorrow if Gabe found out I snitched on him. Especially to the girl who beat up, and scared off, his friends._

**You won't hear from Gabe about this little conversation, all right? I know when a guy wants me to keep my mouth shut.** _She opened the bathroom door and started to leave._** Come on! I'll walk you home. The busses already left. Oh, and you might want to take a lot of that tissue with you.**

_I think I would've gotten the same amount if I had just taken the roll. Hell, she said that it was necessary. And now she was the doctor, or she might just hurt me for all I knew. Now she knows where I live. I don't know why, but I wasn't completely bugged by that. What I was bugged by was what she did before leaving me on my doorstep. There was one of those uncomfortable silences, she cleared her throat awkwardly. When I finally broke the silence and said that I would see her tomorrow, she held my arm to keep me from going inside. She pulled me close to her suddenly, and kissed me on the lips. It was strange, what I felt, like every moment was passing so quickly that I couldn't control my mind racing. I knew this was like that morning when time slowed down when she kicked that guy. I realized, she was the one who controlled it, right in front of my eyes. She controlled time, with the little things she did._

_It seemed like we were standing there, together, for an eternity. She reached up and touched my face and sent a thrill through me. Then it ended and I wanted all of it again, the thrill, the sensation. But I didn't say it. She looked straight at me, being that she was my height, looked into my eyes for the briefest moment, and hers seemed to be lost in a dream. Then she looked up at my forehead and came back to reality. She muttered an apology and quickly turned and walked away. I was still, standing on my front porch for at least a minute before I turned and went inside. I slept well that night now that I had something pleasant to think about._

* * *

_I got to school that day, just as glum as any other day. I was still worried about Gabe some how finding out anything and the hurt I would be in for. I knew something was amiss when the usual kids weren't waiting for me by the bus. I walked around and soon heard the sounds of a fight-crowd. As I approached, I shoved my way through to see what was going on. I was very nearly horrified by what I saw._

_There was the group of jocks that usually ram my nuts into the flagpole. They had a few friends with them as they struggled to hold down a thrashing person. This person I recognized as Nathaneal. They were taking turns getting hits at her, and a few other slightly inappropriate things. Apparently she can handle five jocks, but there were eight here. Eight guys against one girl, and no matter how many times I ran the numbers, none of it seemed fair. I saw Gabe just standing there watching, silent, unlike the rest of the crowd. He saw me then, and he drew attention to me._

**Hey, look! **_he shouted,_ **It's the boy who started it all. **_People all looked at me, and Gabe grabbed hold of me and dragged me over, into the middle of it. Something, told me I was in the middle of it before I even got here._ **Strange for the photographer to leave his camera at school. We're you too busy with the girl here to notice?**

_I had a bad feeling that I knew where this was going. He had my camera last night, he probably followed me home and saw Nathaneal kiss me. Or, worse…he took a picture._ **What the fuck are you talking about? **_I said, for some reason quite comfortable with talking loudly and forcefully._

**Oh! Chicken-shit's got's some nerve in him today?** _He pulled a piece of stiff paper out of his large jacket pocket._ **I've got some discriminating evidence that tells me that you lied.**

_I looked at the picture in his hand and it was as I had feared. On that picture was the crisp image of my front porch and the two people on it, locked in a kiss. Me and Nathaneal._ **So what? **_I asked, feeling just a bit on my high-horse,_ **Does that give you any fucking, goddamned right to touch her?** _I had been slowly raising my voice as I said it._

_Gabe apparently didn't expect this from me--the piss wad in the locker room. Then again, I didn't expect it from me either. He scowled and some one grabbed my neck from behind. My hands shot up to my neck, that reflex, you remember. The guy picked me up about a foot off the ground by the neck. My first instinct was not to fight back. That's what I was used to. Now, I thought differently when Gabe drew a knife._

**You picked the wrong, fucking day,** _he muttered. He pointed the knife at my stomach and I knew he might actually consider killing me. If there hadn't been an interruption, I would've had to find out._

**You hurt the new girl!** _came another unfamiliar voice. Then a loud cackle and suddenly a loud crack was heard behind me. I fell to my feet, able to breathe again. I turned around and saw a skinny guy beating the shit out of the guy who used to have me by the neck. The big guy was already unconscious._

_I tapped the skinny dude on the shoulder._ **You can stop now, he's out cold. **_He stopped and looked up at me with a look that didn't care one bit. Then he got distracted._

**That is one nice-ass camera,** _he said, looking at the camera that now sat on Gabe's shoulder._** I believe it is yours…** _he gestured to me and swiftly stole the camera and returned it._

_In this moment of distraction, Nathaneal found it the right moment to break free of her captors. They were both unconscious when I looked over there. I also saw that her lip was bleeding. The person I thought was immortal and invincible has just shown me otherwise._

_The skinny guy kicked Gabe in the stomach, and pushed him back so he fell on his butt. The guy looked to me and I nodded in a complete understanding. I walked up to Gabe and, with more strength than I thought I had, I sent a swift kick to his head and knocked him out cold. I was still holding the camera._

**Casey,** _said Nathaneal,_ **You did it. You stood up for yourself. And for me as well. Well…thanks.**_ She offered a hand to shake, she still thought she needed to apologize for that kiss last night. I smiled and for once in my life I forgot about people watching, and I hugged her tightly. The crowd had not yet dispersed. The skinny dude rubbed his nose, not knowing what to do. He finally decided that it wasn't a movie, so he started to shoo away the crowd._

**Come on, people! This is something personal between two lovebirds! Let's move it along! **_Everyone went by and returned to their normal morning festivities. Except the skinny dude of course._

_He poked my side, then Nathaneal's. We both turned to him a little pissed off. Nathaneal was the first to say something to him._ **Look, who-ever-you-are, I appreciate you're helping and all, but don't you have something better to do?** _He just cackled strangely._

**Nope! But I'm glad to inform you that I have come to the conclusion that you are not ghosts, or demons.**

_Nathaneal and I exchanged glances,then we looked back at him._ **Are you nuts? **_We asked in unison._

_He gave us a large, mischievous smile, glancing at us both separately, back and forth. **Completely**__, he said, as if he were proud of it._


End file.
